potrero view
Photo by Peter Linenthal.

Photo by Peter Linenthal.

Dogpatch residents gather signatures to save the Bluepeter Building from demolition during last month’s Sunday Streets.

June 2009

Community Works to Save Old Maritime Building

By Lisa Tehrani

The mix of research complexes, parking lots and residential developments being constructed in Mission Bay tend to dwarf the older industrial and residential buildings found a few hundred yards away in Dogpatch and the Central Waterfront.  The Bluepeter, once considered a large building in the neighborhood, now hovers in the shadow of the Fibrogen buildings on the adjacent parcel.  

High-technology and biotechnology, the industries de jour, are steadily replacing Mission Bay’s maritime and industrial past.  But a group of committed community activists hope to protect at least some of the area’s historic infrastructure by revamping a Redevelopment Agency plan to develop a park along Terry Francois Street, across from Kelly’s Mission Rock.  In particular, they want to save the Bluepeter building – which was originally used for boat construction and repair, and has been vacant for almost a decade – from demolition, and refurbish and restore it to serve as an example of mid-20th century modern industrial architecture.  The building is currently slated to be converted into open space as part of the 48 acres of park land contained in the Mission Bay Redevelopment Plan.  

Leading the effort is Janet Carpinelli, San Francisco Green Trust chair and a longtime Dogpatch resident. She’s part of the Bluepeter Committee, under sponsorship of the Dogpatch Neighborhood Association, which is working to save the building.  The committee wants to “retain the building’s connection to Mission Bay’s historical bay front maritime industrial uses and provide a link from Mission Creek to the boat clubs and piers in Mission Bay to the historic working waterfront of Pier 70.”   

A refurbished building could serve as a wholesale and retail fish market, and/or as a market hall that could provide a venue for small scale prepared food and other locally produced organic products, similar to the Ferry Building.  “We are trying to get something for locals and workers. So many of the people want something they can relate to that would not be a touristy, upscale operation,” Carpinelli explained.   “I think it will be a wonderful idea,” Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association Vice President Dick Millet said.  “The university [of California, San Francisco-Mission Bay] is having a produce market now, and they could move it over there. Bluepeter represents buildings of the type that were there and is the only one left beside the old firehouse [on Third Street].”

According to Kelley Kahn, Mission Bay Project Manager for the Redevelopment Agency, the Agency and the San Francisco Port Authority have been in discussions with the committee since October, and are willing to consider the newly proposed use as long as a financially feasible plan to renovate and operate the building can be demonstrated.  The Agency has prepared a design alternative for the park that shows retention of the building, and has explored other options, such as retaining small elements of the building in the park.  However, Kahn noted that retaining the building would reduce the amount of usable open space, a trade-off that needs to be considered by the community and City policymakers.  She also stressed that the Redevelopment Agency doesn’t have the resources to restore Bluepeter, which would cost several million dollars.

 The Redevelopment Agency is also concerned about the time it could take to raise the necessary funds to rehabilitate the building.  According to Kahn, the park has to be open by the end of 2013 to accommodate adjacent development and storm water plans.  “The City is doing good faith discussions and is willing to consider the idea and designs as long as the project in no way compromises delivery of the new park,” Kahn stated.  Ultimately, the design for the park and any plan to restore the building would need to be approved by the Port and Redevelopment Commissions.  Action by the Commissions is slated for late summer, she explained.   

While some Dogpatch, Mission Bay, and Potrero Hill residents are eager to preserve the building, other community members are more interested in maintaining open space, and don’t want a derelict building to hinder the opening of a funded and promised park.  Corinne Woods, Mission Bay Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) member, favors the original park plans. “I cannot see any redeeming features. From the standpoint of where it is and what it is, I think it would be a mistake to keep it, it takes up a third of the footprint and it limits programming options,” she said.  The CAC hopes the committee will present a business plan and a fundraising schedule with clear deadlines for moving forward at its meeting this month.

The Bluepeter building is owned by the San Francisco Port Authority, which leases the site to the Redevelopment Agency. David Beaupre, the Port’s Master Planning Project Manager, stated that his agency supports the original open space plan.  The Port Authority is more interested in spending its resources on Pier 70, where an extensive master planning effort is underway for the nationally recognized historic district.  It’s also considering maintaining a building of similar style and age as the Bluepeter building in what will be called Bay Front Park, just south of Pier 54, for potential use as a restaurant.  “We have an agreement with the Redevelopment Agency and City to lease the [Bluepeter] land for 40 years, but the lease stipulates that it will be a park,” Beaupre noted.  Like the Redevelopment Agency, the Port wants to see the Committee’s full proposal before it makes a final decision.

The Bluepeter Committee believes the building would compliment a redeveloped Pier 70. “We see it all as part of the historic working waterfront. It is a small and doable project compared to Pier 70.  The Port and Redevelopment Agency should embrace it because the area really needs some soul,” Carpinelli stated.

Draft Redevelopment Agency plans show different two models, one that includes the building, along with a half basketball court, sports field, seating for a “chess/checkers grove,” and numerous trees and vegetation.  The plans without the building provide for a more active grass areas denoted for children’s play where the building would have stood.

If given the green light, the Bluepeter Committee plans to develop two nonprofit organizations, one that would raise funds and manage the reconstruction project; the other to operate the market hall and/or fish market.  The building needs several improvements, including a seismic upgrade, new heating, plumbing, safety and electrical systems, as well as new floors, windows, roof and doors, which will cost upwards of $3 million.  Preliminary architectural drawings were produced by Jackson Liles Architecture, and funded by Topher Delaney, a prominent landscape architect and artist with a studio across from the Bluepeter. Local companies, such as Everest Waterproofing and Sheedy Drayage, have pledged their support for the project.  Numerous other entities have also signed up to help with the preservation effort, including San Francisco Architectural Heritage, Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association, Mariposa Boat Club, and the Burning Man Project.

During last month’s Sunday Streets event, which passed in front of the Bluepeter, the committee gathered upwards of 150 signatures.  “I am in support of the area’s changes, but also like to preserve old buildings. I want to support Bluepeter as a way to preserve the history of the area,” said Dogpatch resident Vanessa Ross Aquino. 

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